Global payroll solution company Deel, is in talks to close an additional financing round at a valuation of $5.5 billion, quadruple the valuation in April when it raised $156 million, at a company valuation of $1.25 billion. According to PitchBook, Deel had a valuation of just $59 million in March 2020.
Deel was founded in 2018 by CEO Alex Bouaziz, 28, a French Jew who immigrated to Israel, and chief revenue officer Shuo Wang. They met when studying for their masters degrees at MIT. In April Deel had 120 employees including 20 in Israel.
Deel has developed a platform that allows companies to draw up employment contracts for employees in over 150 countries and pay salaried staff and freelancers in local currency and according to local laws.
Back in April, Bouaziz told "Globes" that Deel has crossed the $10 million annual recurring revenue threshold, meaning that it had a very high valuation in relation to its revenue.
Reports of Deel's planned latest financing round were reported by "The Information" website, based on four separate sources. "The Information" said that New York based investment firm Coatue Maqnagement will lead the financing round with the participation of existing investors including Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz and Spark Capital.
Deel's fast rising value comes amid soaring demand by organizations and fast rising salaries for human resources. Last month Deel's Israeli rival Papaya Global raised $250 million at a company valuation of $3.7 billion, triple its valuation in March. Another rival is Remote, which raised $150 million in July at a company valuation of over $1 billion.
Deel's main specialization is to help companies to employ independent contractors and individual employees around the world through companies that it has set up overseas. Deel also plans to expand to offer payroll services for large companies that already have businesses in the overseas country.
Deel declined to comment on the report in "The Information" other than to say that its next financing round is still far from complete.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 4, 2021
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